Last Updated on 13th May 2021
With so much competition, marketers are finding it increasingly difficult to hold on to customers. Simply asking visitors to sign up to your email list does not make them a customer.
Whilst you need this step for marketing purposes, it is far too easy for followers to unsubscribe, especially if you chase them away with continuous advertising they don’t want!
Bombarding customers with marketing messages is overwhelming and not welcome. When you receive constant messages from a new love interest you kiss them goodbye. Consumers do the same with brands.
To improve brand loyalty therefore, focus on what the customer wants.
Best deals
At the top of every shopper’s list is a search are the magic words “best deal”. Consumers ache for products they want, and are excited when they find them at a price they can afford. When customers are asked to stretch their budget, they hesitate before they purchase. Often they change their mind.
On the other hand, when shoppers find a bargain, they typically make the purchase without a moment’s hesitation. Marketers should therefore be identifying customers that are looking to purchase a specific item and offer them the best deal available.
Simplicity
Consumers want to have a simple decision to make. Marketers can do this by making the purchase journey as simple as possible through effective communication. To do this, you need to determine what a customer wants. Then you can take a personal approach and make your offer an easy choice.
Far too often, online brands lead customers along a purchasing path that is unnecessary and does not provide sufficient information at each step. Monitor your own purchase paths and determine where most customers are bowing out. Make the decision to continue simple.
Be helpful, don’t push
Nobody likes a pushy sales person, but we all soften to helpful staff. Balancing the measure between pushy and helpful online is slightly more difficult than when you are face-to-face with customers in a physical store.
If you know what your customer wants and where they are in the sale process, you can be more helpful and make suggestions that steer them in the right direction. Give them options and explain why you feel the choices meet their needs.
Earn trust
Easy access to information on the web has made savvy consumers more inclined to research products they are interested in. Marketers can cease on this common practice by offering a helping hand and guiding customers to review sites that feature products they have on offer.
By giving consumers valuable information on independent websites, you earn the trust of the customer. Web users are not as concerned with trusting brands anymore, but rather the information they are given.
You should also be providing your own advice to prospects by reviewing products in your own store. An effective way of doing this is by comparing one branded product with another and explain the benefits of each and the type of consumer it is best suited to. Make a video and load it up to YouTube and you can position yourself as an expert.
User-friendly website
Navigation is also a key factor in retaining customers. Browsers are busy people and want to be able to find the item they are looking for without much hassle. Creating a user-friendly website is old-hat advice, yet remarkably there are still hundreds of websites that confuse their customers.
If your online store is receiving plenty of traffic, but not converting, the chances are that your website is too complicated to navigate and thus putting visitors off exploring. Perhaps it’s time for a re-design.
Building a successful business involves building a loyal following of customers. With the advancements of online shopping and information gathering, customer service has taken a new dimension. When it boils down to customer loyalty, the rules are the same, but the methods have changed.
